Our Sponsoring Approach: Linked to Our Businesses

In the communities where we operate, Lonza is committed to having a positive impact. We are neighbors, a vital source of jobs, a charitable sponsor of local civic and cultural projects and often a significant contributor to local economies. While our financial donations are important, our employees also play a critical role by volunteering in programs and projects in our priority areas.

We want to be a reliable, long-term and active partner and to engage at the earliest possible stage of any community project we sponsor. Accordingly, we focus our resources on a limited number of selected projects where our engagement can make a distinctive difference and which are linked to our businesses.

Social

Humanitarian

Improving Sanitation in Uganda

Uganda, as one of the poorest countries in the world, is in dire need of sanitary improvements. Many people in rural areas and even in the outskirts of major cities rely on pit latrines or outhouses as their bathrooms. If untreated, pit latrines can become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, germs and viruses, which contaminate the environment and spread diseases.

To address this vital issue, Lonza is teaming up with the non-governmental organization Clean Habitat Uganda to provide Water Care’s HTH Scientific® sanitizer tablets for use in treating pit latrines. Clean Habitat Uganda distributes our sanitizing tablets to communities serving 5,000 homes. Since the kick-off in 2015, the project has evolved and expanded its reach into more local communities.

Education and Science

Committing to Support School for Underprivileged Children in India

Education is the backbone of every society in the world, but a quality education is still a dream for many. In India, for example, only a few students receive a quality education with good teachers and teaching aids.

In 2015 Lonza India decided to focus our local corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts to establish a direct, close and continuing interaction with the Marathi Medium School Vidya Vikas Mandal for underprivileged children in Mumbai (IN). The school, established in 1957, is currently home to around 600 students and facilitates education from primary school to secondary school. As part of our CSR, Lonza India has supported the school by constructing and renovating school buildings and by setting up e-learning facilities, a computer lab and a science lab.

In June 2018 Lonza Group General Counsel Andreas Bohrer visited the school to meet the students and to see how the project had developed with our aid since 2015. Our support has made a positive change in students’ lives and has encouraged management to work toward their mission of improving education for these deprived students.

Partnering with Swiss Youth in Science

Another continuing project in 2018 was Lonza’s partnership with Swiss Youth in Science, which began in July 2014. Founded in 1967 the foundation Schweizer Jugend forscht (Swiss Youth in Science) supports inquisitive and motivated children and young people with the aim of awakening joy and fascination for scientific work.

With the foundation’s series of courses, children and young people become more interested in subjects such as mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology; and they learn about options for their future studies or professional careers. Through this intense engagement, Lonza contributes to the promotion of science and helps in the development of the next generation of scientific professionals.

Sponsoring a Swiss Think Tank

As a corporate citizen interested in the future development of society and its interdependencies with politics and economics, Lonza has been a partner of Avenir Suisse, an independent think tank for economic and social issues, for many years. In 2018 Lonza continued to support Avenir Suisse, which aims to demonstrate a need for political action and to help solve problems by means of initiatives and proposals.

To this end Avenir Suisse performs analyses based on scientific principles, organizes conferences and participates in public debates. Founded in 1999 it is supported by more than 100 companies and private individuals from all economic branches and regions of Switzerland.

Health and Sports

Continuing the Successful «Lonza Makes You Fit» Program

In cooperation with the organizers of the Gornergrat Zermatt Marathon, the project «Lonza Makes You Fit» was initiated in Visp (CH) and Basel (CH) in 2016. The goal of the program was to make Lonza employees fit for the Gornergrat Zermatt Half-Marathon. Lonza developed a comprehensive health program and successfully prepared participants to complete the most beautiful mountain race in the world.

Then in 2017, in addition to the Gornergrat Zermatt Marathon, the project in Visp was extended to cycling and the «Energy for Every Day» concept, supporting a healthy work-life balance. For almost three years now, the number of people taking part in one or more programs has been around 500 employees, which is about 20% of the workforce at Lonza Visp, and the trend is upward.

For 2019 more than 200 employees from Basel (CH) and Visp (CH) have registered just for the running project. As in previous years, most of them will run the half-marathon course; and some experienced runners will dare to take part in the marathon, the relay or the «ultra».

Organizing an Annual Charity Golf Event

The Lonza Harvest Open is an annual charity golf tournament organized by volunteers from the Lonza site in Portsmouth, NH (USA). A fun event for organizers and attendees, it raises awareness and funding for specialized projects for local non-profit organizations in the Seacoast region of Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. During the last 17 years, Lonza has raised more than $1.7 million for 36 New Hampshire charities.

Cycling for Children

Cycling for Children is a unique public cycling event organized in Switzerland in collaboration with Crans-Montana Tourism & Congress. The aim is to show commitment through sporting performance and creative fundraising to help children in need. In 2018 Lonza signed up as part of the «Lonza Makes You Fit Program», and employees from Visp and Basel participated in the fundraising event.

Giving Back by Going Pink in Singapore

The Pink Ribbon Walk & Run is Singapore’s largest signature event dedicated to raising awareness and showing support for those affected by breast cancer. In 2018 Lonza Singapore participated for the first time and ran a donation campaign during the month of October, which is known worldwide as breast cancer awareness month. The site collected a total of SGD 10,000 (CHF 7,000) donations for this cause.

Completing the Virgin Pulse 100-Day Global Challenge in the UK

During the summer more than 300 colleagues at Lonza Slough and Cambridge (UK) took part in a virtual «Walk around the World» with 35,000 other teams as part of the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge. Our 43 teams of 7 took part in exercise activities, as well as improved healthy habits regarding nutrition, mental wellbeing and sleep – all during a virtual travel tour covering destinations such as Peru or Norway. They then earned points and «trophies» along the way.

Lonza Slough and Cambridge employees walked more than 410 million steps, which equates to a distance of 263,331 km. Among the Lonza participants, the number of employees who now meet the recommendation of 10,000 steps per day is 81% vs. 18% pre-Global Challenge.

Sponsoring the Lonza Arena in Visp

Lonza will be contributing CHF 3 million to the new ice and sports center in Visp (CH), which will officially be named the Lonza Arena for the next 20 years. The new sports center will be the home of the EHC Visp (a Swiss professional ice-hockey team) and have a capacity of 5,000 spectators.

Arts and Culture

Bringing Classical Music Closer to Kids and Teens

In September 2015 Lonza initiated a new sponsoring partnership with the Basel Chamber Orchestra to support the group’s project «Classroom Piece». The project was produced in cooperation with a theater pedagogue and four musicians from the orchestra with the goal of giving children and teens the necessary impetus to develop their musical personality, independent of social and cultural backgrounds. Lonza is proud to be continuing actively to support the development of this novel project with the goal of bringing classical music closer to the community.

Environmental

Building Opportunities for Action

Our employees in Porriño (ES) contribute time to demonstrate our concern for corporate social responsibility in many ways. One successful project in place is run by the site’s donations team. Employees from different departments donated reusable and recyclable goods such as crystal bottles or test tubes; equipment like weighting scales or PH-meters; reagents and gels; or used office material that is perfectly usable for educational purposes.

Receiving Wildlife and Industry Together (W.A.I.T.) Certification

Lonza Greenwood, SC (USA) has been certified by the South Carolina Wildlife Federation (SCWF) for the W.A.I.T. program. The SCWF advocates for the preservation and recreation of wildlife habitats across South Carolina. The W.A.I.T. program is designed to encourage corporate landowners to integrate wildlife habitat needs into corporate land management decisions. The outcome is enhanced environmental awareness, a positive environmental impact, and a pleasing work environment for colleagues.

As part of the program, Lonza Greenwood has dedicated a corner plot by the east gate to the creation of a Carolina Fence Garden. This garden serves as a habitat for the Carolina Wren and the South Carolina official state butterfly, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. It also integrates several cultural symbols of South Carolina such as the Yellow Jessamine, the state flower; South Carolina Blue Granite; and a split rail fence, which is representative of what South Carolina farmers typically used between the 1800s and early 1900s.

In addition, Lonza Greenwood established a partnership with the Horticulture Team at Piedmont Technical College to promote community involvement and to incorporate the garden into horticulture curriculum for plant identification.